Visiting Hours
by chromate
Summary: Post-episode 24, alternative ending. Shouma had been in a coma since that fated day, and Ringo visited him every day, hoping that he would wake up and say those words to her again. Shouma/Ringo


Greetings everyone. I just recently finished watching _Mawaru Penguindrum_, and got totally blown away by the show. I was surprised by how few fanfics there are for this series, though maybe that could be attributed to the lack of coherence among Western audience, since the context of the show (the 1995 Sarin Gas Attack Incident) and the literary reference (Keiji Miyazawa's _Night on the Galactic Railroad_ [銀河鉄道の夜]) might be hard for Western viewers to catch on or feel coherent about. Still, I like Shouma/Ringo so much that I spent a couple hours writing this story. It aims to be just a short piece of romance/fluff story, so please bear with me if you're hoping for a very detailed explanation of this worldview.

Plot: Post-episode 24, alternative ending. Shouma had been in a coma since that fated day, and Ringo visited him every day, hoping that he would wake up and say those words to her again.

Genre: Romance, Hurt/Comfort

Starring: Ringo, Shouma; Himari, Kanba, Tabuki, Yuri (brief mention)

Pairing: Shouma/Ringo

As always, I recommend reading in ½ page size to get the feeling of reading a book.

* * *

Oginome Ringo raised her head to look at the tall, erect building that she had grown to hate.

'Hate' might be too strong of a word, for she reserved such abhorrence for something that she absolutely could not stand (such as that blonde woman when she was still chasing after Tabuki – really, what was she thinking?) but she could not get rid of that uneasy feeling in her stomach whenever she was about to walk into the main wing of the hospital. Tightening her grip on her schoolbag, she took a deep breath and made her way to the entrance.

Passing by strangers that she met for the first time and nurses that she had become familiar with over the past month, she turned a corner and arrived at her destination. In a way she was scared by how she adapted to such routine. Who would like to come to this place of life and death every day, after all? The countless melancholy faces always seemed to be telling her that something could go wrong, that she would go crazy should she spend one more day here. And often times, she did think about not coming back. The very idea of losing him right in front of her eyes was too much for her to bear.

But she could never bring herself into doing so, especially when she set her eyes on the face of the teenager lying on bed, sleeping peacefully without a care in the world, not knowing how much pain and happiness he was bringing to those close to him.

'Good afternoon, Shouma-kun,' Ringo whispered with a small smile. 'How are you today?' She grabbed a chair and sat next to his bed, listening to the steady sound of the heart monitor. The boy named Shouma did not move a bit with Ringo's presence. His eyes remained closed and his breathing was calm as ever. What differentiated him from other patients was that his face was wrapped with white bandages, covering his characteristically blue hair. Ringo placed her hand on his face.

'Himari-chan is doing her physiotherapy at this hour, and Kanba-kun is with her,' the chestnut-haired girl continued, caressing his cheek gently, feeling how femininely soft his skin was. 'She'll be very happy if you wake up, you know. After all, you're the one who showed her the fruit of destiny.'

She recalled how conflicted she felt when Himari woke up a week after that fated day. To the doctors' surprise, the girl's chronic disease was miraculously cured, though her limbs were not strong enough to walk around without assistance yet. Everyone was overjoyed by the news, and they all expected Shouma, who suffered a certain degree of burns on his body, to be next.

But Shouma showed no indication of opening his eyes any time soon. He just remained sleeping, even though his wounds were mostly healed. Perhaps staying in coma was what he preferred, Ringo reasoned to herself. The boy had been placing too much burden on his shoulders, blaming himself for all the faults that had happened to the Takakura family. Even in the last moment of that fated day, he decided to sacrifice himself so that she could live. He might just want to remain unconscious, keeping himself out of all the troubles that human beings had to deal with. After all, he had been through much more than teenagers of his age had experienced.

If that was the case, then Ringo would never forgive him.

'Why did you do that, Shouma-kun?' Ringo brought up his hand and put it on her cheek, feeling the bare amount of heat on his skin. 'Why did you save me?'

She could vividly remember the moment of her yelling out the curse, trying her very best to change everyone's destiny. She had expected to be consumed by the fire of fate as a result, but she did not foresee Shouma taking the burden off her shoulders. She thought she had lost him forever, her eyes in tears when he whispered those words softly into her ears.

'_Thank you. I love you.'_

'Say those words again,' Ringo deadpanned, her eyes watering. 'I want to hear you say those words again.'

The heart monitor showed no signs of abnormality. Shouma's heartbeat had stayed relatively stable ever since Ringo entered the room.

'Why are you so cruel in leaving me alone here?' the sixteen-year-old felt her body shaking as tears were furiously rolling down her cheek. 'I have promised that I'll be by your side no matter what, and this is how you repay me? Who ends his life right after confessing? What kind of idiot are you?'

She had been doing this every single day for a whole month now: holding his hand, talking while not knowing if he was listening, crying on his arm and asking him the same questions over and over again. Ringo was just human; she was frustrated, and she didn't know how much more she could take this.

Ringo threw her head on the bed sheet and started sobbing, letting the white fabric absorb her tears. She failed to take note of the slight movement in Shouma's other hand, which shuddered for a brief second.

'Please wake up, Shouma-kun...' Ringo tried to wipe her eyes with her hand, but she just could not stop crying when the scene of the fire of fate started consuming Shouma appeared in her mind again. 'Please…'

She almost shrieked when she felt a hand pat her head ever so gently, and she jumped in surprise.

'Shouma-kun…' she could barely hear her own voice, when she saw those pair of green eyes staring at her equally in surprise.

'Oginome…san…?' Shouma sounded like he could not believe what he was seeing and, frankly, the sight of a crying Ringo scared him even more. He took some time in scrutinizing the room carefully, trying to figure out where he was.

'Is this a dream?' he finally muttered, his eyes landing on Ringo again after some minutes of silence. 'I…I thought I would be dead…isn't that how–'

He never got to finish that sentence, for Ringo had recovered from her initial shock and did not hesitate in jumping onto his body, throwing her arms around his neck and crushing his bones with a heartwarming hug.

'Shouma-kun!' she buried her head on his shoulder. 'You're awake! You're awake! You're awake!'

'W–what?' Shouma asked, totally confused by the situation. 'How did this happen? I thought I…I thought you…'

'You were sent to the hospital after you took the transfer of fate off me,' Ringo kept hugging him as she explained the situation to him, 'but you didn't die. I didn't die. Himari-chan and Kanba-kun didn't die. We're all somehow alive after that, and you're sent to the hospital when you fell into coma after that.'

'A coma?' Shouma was stunned. He stared out of the window, trying to determine what day it was. 'How long has it been?'

'A month,' Ringo replied. 'It's been a month.'

It took Shouma some time to think about all that had happened. The last thing he remembered, before he closed his eyes for a long time, was the sight of Ringo on fire and the realization that Himari would be alright.

'Are you hurt?' Shouma asked with much concern in his voice. 'Your body…did the fire hurt you back then?'

Ringo stared at him with an unreadable expression, and when Shouma panicked, thinking that he had said something stupid, she burst into laughter.

'It's just like you to worry about others before you think about yourself,' Ringo grinned, and Shouma found her smile alluring.

'Ne, Shouma-kun,' Ringo lowered her head and rubbed his arm with her hand, 'do you remember what happened before…before…you know…' the uncharacteristic blush on her face was remarkable, and her nervous expression made a part of him want to toy with her for a moment. However, Shouma was too tired to contemplate on that.

'I…' he gulped, 'I can't promise anything, Oginome-san. After all that's happened…' he trailed off, and her hurt expression made his heart skip a beat. Sighing, he reached for her hand and gave it a light squeeze.

'My mind has not changed, though.'

Ringo slowly raised her head to face him, her expression brightening with each passing second.

'Thank you, and I love you…Ringo-chan.'

She had imagined this scenario many times, of what would happen if he finally woke up, and hearing those words from him was more than she could ever ask for. Her tear glands proved to be too delicate for the day, for she threw herself forward without a care, capturing his lips with hers. Shouma was clearly not prepared for such a reaction, but the returning kiss and the feeling of his arms circling her waist was proof enough for her to continue.

'Thank you, and I love you too, Shouma-kun.'

* * *

_The End_

* * *

I might write another story from Shouma's perspective, detailing what was in his mind during this month. But, that might or might not materialize depending on if I got some spare time from writing my _Digimon_ fanfic, which is my main project on this site.

Hope you all enjoy this short story! Leave me a review to let me know what you think! Merry Christmas, everyone!


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